Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of Mauricio Pochettino's pre-match press conference ahead of the north London derby.

Alasdair Gold is in position at the Spurs training base at Hotspur to report on everything the Spurs manager has to say about team news, injury updates and how he plays to take on Arsenal at the Emirates.

His record in these grudges has so far been impressive with the Argentinian unbeaten in his clashes with Arsene Wenger since taking charge of Tottenham Hotspur.

However, he is yet to win at the home of the Gunners - but that could all change this weekend.

The main topics of conversation will the the health and fitness of key players Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Harry Winks and Hugo Lloris.

Who will be available to start against Arsenal could decide the complexion of the match and which side holds the advantage.

Given the recent history of the fixture their latest meeting could be one of the highlights of the season.

Follow the updates from the press conference below.

Key Events

On Toby Alderweireld's injury

Toby is out. We need to assess him. We expect longer than we previously [thought] when the problem happened. Maybe after Christmas. Maybe. That is the expectation. It will be longer [than we thought]. The injury is in his hamstring. But it’s only him, then Wanyama we have to assess every day. He is doing well but we need to wait.

He feels normal. He feels disappointed. It’s a little bit sad but in the same way he is focused now on trying to recover as soon as possible, he is working hard, in the first stage of rehab. We are happy but this type of injury we must be cautious and it is a process of time we need to wait.

14:13

Spurs have leaders but Arsenal don't?

I don’t agree. I think Arsenal have a lot of great players and of course with great character too like us. Eric Dier was captain in the last two games and we feel very proud. But I think if we compare different teams, in all the teams are leaders and in all the teams are potential leaders and captains. But of course talking about our team we feel very proud, we have different players that can develop and of course we are still young with many players, but you feel they can be leaders.

14:07

How important is stability at a club like Spurs?

I think it’s important. It’s important to find the right person to develop that job. All the clubs want stability and a person to develop the club long term. All the clubs are finding the right people to try to develop a good project. In another moment it was United with Ferguson or Arsenal with Arsene Wenger. Every single club wants to develop this type of project. But it’s not easy in football today, because you have to keep winning every week and every season. To have the possibility or capacity to reveal the team every season, keep motivating your players, the relationship between the manager and you too, it’s so important to keep in a good level. Sometimes things happens and it’s not possible. For everyone it’s a challenge to keep stability in football clubs.

13:59

Is Eriksen one of the best in the world?

Of course. I watched the game. He scored unbelievable goals. Of course in that moment when you are so excited and the performance from Christian, you put him in the top ten for sure after that game. Christian is so young and in the last few years he is showing here that he deserves a lot of praise and credit in Tottenham performances and the results we’ve achieved in the last three season He’s such an important player for us. Of course Christian is a very good player. We are so happy and so proud, because it’s so important for him to be in the next World Cup. It’s a massive achievement.

13:57

Is a draw enough on Saturday?

Always in football the mentality in our case is to win. Try to prepare to win the three points. It’s true that when you are chasing, only it’s enough if you win. It depends on the games and the performance and what happens during the games. Sometimes a draw is good or it’s not enough and whether you are better or the opponent is better than you. I think every game is completely different. But of course when you prepare your mentality is to win the three points.

13:54

Poch on preparing around the international break

We are in the same situation, all the clubs. We don’t have too much time to prepare for the game. I think in that case Arsene and myself, Arsenal and Tottenham, we are in the same situation. We have a lot of international players. They arrive yesterday and today. Difficult to prepare for the game. Of course, that it’s way it’s so important the pre-season, so important to sign the players from the beginning of the transfer market, not at the end because this is the only moment you have to prepare the team and provide them with the better tools for how you want them to play. I cannot complain about that though because we’re all in the same situation.

13:46KEY EVENT

Lamela latest

13:44

'No plans' to change Spurs New Year's Eve game

The Premier League has told football.london there are currently no plans in place to move the New Year’s Eve fixture between Spurs and West Ham at Wembley from its 2.15pm kick off.

The match has been put back 24 hours from it’s original date after it was selected for television coverage on Sky Sports - not a big surprise due to the nature of the rivalry between the two teams but moving it to December 31 and keeping the awkward 2.15pm kick off has not gone down well.